Sports Reporter Praised for Stiff-Arming Fan Trying to Interrupt Her Broadcast: 'I'm Here to Do My Job'

A sports reporter is receiving praise from coworkers and fans online Tuesday after a video of her broadcast during last night’s Stanley Cup Final game went viral, showing her pushing a fan out of her live shot while continuing to report on the game.

“Listen, I don’t give a damn what team you’re rooting for — get the hell out of my face when I’m working and respect that I’m here to do my job,” CBS News Miami reporter Samantha Rivera tweeted late Monday night. “Excited to get back home to some classy #Panthers fans for game 3!!”

The moment took place soon after the Las Vegas Golden Knights defeated the Florida Panthers 7-2 in Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Final and Rivera was reporting on the result from Vegas.

By Tuesday afternoon, the video had nearly eight million views on Twitter and about 3,500 thousand retweets.

“Don’t mess with Chicago girls,” fellow CBS Miami sports reporter Trish Christakis tweeted.

“Elite form,” the NFL’s official Twitter account wrote, sharing the video and tagging Tennessee Titans running back Derrick Henry. “Reminded us of someone else.”

Several users joked that Rivera, a Chicago native and DePaul University graduate, showed off the strength of an NFL running back with the stiff arm she used to push away the Vegas fan.

“Why would the Dolphins go after Dalvin Cook when Samantha delivers a meaner stiff arm?” David Furones, a Miami Dolphins reporter for The Sun-Sentinel, joked.

ESPN play-by-play commentator John Buccigross tweeted a flexing emoji and praised Rivera as a true “hockey broadcaster.”

Others took aim at the fans’ obnoxious actions. “No one should have to put up with this,” tweeted longtime Chicago sports columnist Phil Rosenthal, slamming Vegas’ security for not watching out for visiting reporters. “What kind of security operation do they have in Las Vegas? Nicely handled by the DePaul grad, but what the hell?”

Rivera told Sports Illustrated on Tuesday that she saw the fan looming out of the corner of her eye, "so I just kept my eye on him."

"And then I don’t know if I heard him or felt him, but I sensed him, and the second I did, my arm just came out. 'It's not gonna happen!' I was annoyed," she said.

"I was fine, but honestly, I was just scared, nervous, because you didn’t know what that guy was gonna do," Rivera added. "Thankfully it was him just trying to be annoying and get in the shot and make his way on but it could’ve been worse. You don’t really know in those situations."

Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Final takes place Thursday night in Florida.